So, you probably think that you can bring out a massive array of colored LED boxes, have them pulse hypnotically to your music, and dazzle us, because we love color and light.

You’re probably right.

CDM reader Stefan Yazzie writes:

A few friends and I created this audio-visual DJ stage to accompany our live shows. We are the visual collective ‘The Paranormal Unicorn’ and this is our new baby. It’s made of wood, plexiglass, some custom programming, a lot of electronics and even more love.

DJ duo Skitzophonics plays the music atop the stage, which involved, say the creators, “hundreds of hours of sweat, blood and alcohol were spent creating this sexy piece of eye candy.” I believe it.

Part of what I do enjoy about this is, because of the DIY spirit of all this stuff, you aren’t just seeing acts who spent some money to tart up their show. Something of the personality of the artists comes across. And it’s a delight as these kinds of toys liven up electronic shows. So please, bring it on. (Who’s with me?)

its nicely executed, but im not “that” wowed by it realy. its just the same box thing as weve seen many times before and actualy does less – only real difference is the lack of variation on it ( for me it would get boring after 15 mins max ). kind of surprised how many sites ive seen this on.

http://pkirn.com/ Peter Kirn

Well, I’ll make a deal – I think we should try to get them to talk about how they did it.

Here’s the thing: a lot of this stuff isn’t terribly novel. But novelty matters on the Web; less so in actual live shows. Frankly, I’d love to go see shows filled with colored boxes. There’s pretty reasonable information out there on what laptop to buy and which hard drive to use and which audio interface will work well. The sum of that shared knowledge is that you don’t constantly go to performances where people’s audio is breaking.

So, imagine if you did go shows and saw more of this. I’d be happier. And then, because I don’t doubt that these guys did put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this project, imagine that people shared enough information that each time things got a little better.

Getting my drift?

Vjair

i do actualy like the approach to the construction technique ( you are right – there could be good knowledge here ) and i do appreciate there was a lot of work that went into the project.

i suppose for me, it seems too much of a technical exercise rather than an asthetic one and whilst i like the former, the latter is what it should be about ( imo )

http://pkirn.com/ Peter Kirn

Oh, okay – I follow now. Well, and if it’s aesthetically lacking to you, that’s a whole different question.

I’ve made and now developing similar project with openFrameworks and LeafLabs Maple, it’s based on four 16 step sequencers syncing with music rhythm in real time. Details and club performance video will be soon. And here is home testing http://youtu.be/caNNg7jMtAE